Frontiers
2011
1. One More Day
2. Another Man Down
3. An Empty Shell
4. Half Past Loneliness
5. Hard Rain's Coming
6. Show Me How To Live
7. Angel's Gone
Like a lot of folks out there, my favorite Royal Hunt has always been Paradox. Probably their most popular album to date and a fan favorite. I've always enjoyed Royal Hunt and listen to anything they release anyways, but there was a particular excitement to this release for me. DC Cooper back in the fold at vocals was just an intriguing notion after all these years.
After listening to Show Me How To Live this album pretty much meets my expectations of it. This release might as well be Paradox Pt. III based on the sound. Everything here is very much in that vein stylistically as the music is melodic but with punch and has that touch of choir vocals and a bit of a symphonic touch. DC Cooper sounds in fine form and just makes this album sound like it should have immediately followed Paradox. The whole band takes a step back in time here, though in all fairness, they started to do that with Paradox II anyways and X was maybe just something of a misstep. Show Me How To Live just sounds more metal and energetic than X and it's a welcome change.
With Show Me How To Live the formula is back in place and this is a nice, direct Royal Hunt album that should please fans of Paradox II and the DC Cooper era. Soundwise this is what fans of Paradox would probably want. Almost to a fault though I have to say and that is my one real nitpick with this album. Show Me How To Live is so familiar and doesn't really break any new ground. I guess that can and maybe even should be expected of an album like this where an old vocalist is coming back into the fold. I can't help thinking it would have been nice if the band expanded the sound just a little though. At times I do get just a bit of a sense of a rehash. All in all though this is a fine release and I enjoyed listening to it. If you're a fan of Royal Hunt you should certainly get this. If you're unfamiliar with the band and like melodic progressive and/or prog/power stuff I'd say pick up Paradox first.
Highlights: Half Past Loneliness, Hard Rain's Coming, Angel's Gone
Rating - 3.5/5
2. Another Man Down
3. An Empty Shell
4. Half Past Loneliness
5. Hard Rain's Coming
6. Show Me How To Live
7. Angel's Gone
Like a lot of folks out there, my favorite Royal Hunt has always been Paradox. Probably their most popular album to date and a fan favorite. I've always enjoyed Royal Hunt and listen to anything they release anyways, but there was a particular excitement to this release for me. DC Cooper back in the fold at vocals was just an intriguing notion after all these years.
After listening to Show Me How To Live this album pretty much meets my expectations of it. This release might as well be Paradox Pt. III based on the sound. Everything here is very much in that vein stylistically as the music is melodic but with punch and has that touch of choir vocals and a bit of a symphonic touch. DC Cooper sounds in fine form and just makes this album sound like it should have immediately followed Paradox. The whole band takes a step back in time here, though in all fairness, they started to do that with Paradox II anyways and X was maybe just something of a misstep. Show Me How To Live just sounds more metal and energetic than X and it's a welcome change.
With Show Me How To Live the formula is back in place and this is a nice, direct Royal Hunt album that should please fans of Paradox II and the DC Cooper era. Soundwise this is what fans of Paradox would probably want. Almost to a fault though I have to say and that is my one real nitpick with this album. Show Me How To Live is so familiar and doesn't really break any new ground. I guess that can and maybe even should be expected of an album like this where an old vocalist is coming back into the fold. I can't help thinking it would have been nice if the band expanded the sound just a little though. At times I do get just a bit of a sense of a rehash. All in all though this is a fine release and I enjoyed listening to it. If you're a fan of Royal Hunt you should certainly get this. If you're unfamiliar with the band and like melodic progressive and/or prog/power stuff I'd say pick up Paradox first.
Highlights: Half Past Loneliness, Hard Rain's Coming, Angel's Gone
Rating - 3.5/5
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